FEBRUARY 10, 1997

Bridgestone's F1 structure

THE Bridgestone Corporation's Formula 1 plans for the coming season are now taking more concrete shape with the establishment of a motorsport headquarters at High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. The totally new facility - which will house the entire Bridgestone F1 operation in Britain - is extremely well-situated between London's Heathrow Airport and Silverstone, with easy access to Britain's motorway network. The facility will be run by Naotaka Horio, although Bridgestone Motorsport's General Manager Hiroshi Yasukawa will have an office in Britain, although he will continue to be based in Japan.

The F1 technical team is entirely made up of Japanese engineers and will be headed by Hirohide Hamashima, the manager of F1 racing tire design section of the company's Motor Sport Tire Development Department. Hamashima has been involved in the Firestone Indycar program in recent years. He will report to the general manager of the Motor Sport Tire Development Department Masafumi Yoshihara at Kodaira technical center in Tokyo. Yoshihara will oversee the tire compound and tire design sections.

At each Grand Prix Arrows, Ligier, Minardi, Stewart and Lola will each have one Bridgestone engineer, one technician and one fitter working with them while the logistics of the new operation will be overseen by veteran Peter Grzlinski, who headed M&H Formula 2 tires operation back in the early 1980s, and has worked with Bridgestone in German touring car racing in recent years.

The company's public relations will be handled by Briton James Penrose who has worked for helmet company Arai in recent years but was previously employed by Team Lotus.